Tibaηsim: Information Access for Low-Resource Environments

Francis Dittoh; Hans Akkermans; Victor de Boer; Anna Bon; Wendelien Tuyp; André Baart

doi:10.1007/978-981-16-2377-6_62

Tibaηsim: Information Access for Low-Resource Environments

Francis Dittoh^*, Hans Akkermans, Victor de Boer, Anna Bon, Wendelien Tuyp, André Baart

^*Corresponding author for this work

Research output: Chapter in Book / Report / Conference proceeding › Conference contribution › Academic › peer-review

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Abstract

In Africa, and other places around the world, there are numerous people who do not have access to information from the World Wide Web or other digital sources. This is not an issue of infrastructure only, but also of cultural and social factors, including low literacy. Most rural communities in the Northern Region of Ghana fall in this category, where information in written form and/or English is not accessible due to the inability of majority of community members to read and write. This paper presents Tiba η sim (originally “RadioNet”); a case-study of an appropriate ICT4D methodology in the development of an information delivery system hosted in low-resource areas, with empirical data from context analysis from the rural communities and other stakeholders. The paper also presents an evaluation of the system and the methodology, by way of User Evaluation and System Monitoring. The paper also shows how contextual issues are catered for through the methodology used. Tibaηsim focuses on available technologies and appropriate information formats by providing a system that relies on GSM and FM Radio, in the local language(s) of the community. Tibaηsim was deployed in 5 rural communities, reaching a total of almost 1000 people, providing them primarily farming-related information.

Original language	English
Title of host publication	Proceedings of 6th International Congress on Information and Communication Technology
Subtitle of host publication	ICICT 2021, London, Volume 1
Editors	Xin-She Yang, Simon Sherratt, Nilanjan Dey, Amit Joshi
Publisher	Springer Science and Business Media Deutschland GmbH
Pages	675-683
Number of pages	9
Volume	1
ISBN (Electronic)	9789811623776
ISBN (Print)	9789811623769
DOIs	https://doi.org/10.1007/978-981-16-2377-6_62
Publication status	Published - 2022
Event	6th International Congress on Information and Communication Technology, ICICT 2021 - Virtual, Online Duration: 25 Feb 2021 → 26 Feb 2021

Publication series

Name	Lecture Notes in Networks and Systems (LNNS)
Publisher	Springer
Volume	235
ISSN (Print)	2367-3370
ISSN (Electronic)	2367-3389

Conference

Conference	6th International Congress on Information and Communication Technology, ICICT 2021
City	Virtual, Online
Period	25/02/21 → 26/02/21

Bibliographical note

Funding Information:
The authors thank Christophe Guéret for the original Kasadaka idea and the University for Development Studies ICT for Food and Water in Ghana team led by Saa Dittoh. We also acknowledge the contributions of Kay Kutah Wilhelm (Savanna Agricultural Research Institute), The Internet Society Ghana Chapter, and The Internet Society for funding the pilot project. The authors also thank Chris van Aart, Amadou Tangara, Chris Reij, Stephane Boyera, Gossa Lô, Julien Ouedraogo, Matthieu Oue-draogo, Mary Allen, Nana Baah Gyan, Aman Grewal, Yacouba Sawadogo, Stefan Schlobach, and many others for their contribution to this continuing research project.

Publisher Copyright:
© 2022, The Author(s), under exclusive license to Springer Nature Singapore Pte Ltd.

Keywords

Digital divide
ict4d
Information access
Low-resource
Mobile
Radio
Rural
Sub-saharan africa
Unconnected
User-centered design
Voice technologies

UN SDGs

This output contributes to the following UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs)

Access to Document

10.1007/978-981-16-2377-6_62

Tibaηsim Information Access for Low-Resource EnvironmentsFinal published version, 222 KBLicence: Article 25fa Dutch Copyright Act

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Dittoh, F., Akkermans, H., de Boer, V., Bon, A., Tuyp, W., & Baart, A. (2022). Tibaηsim: Information Access for Low-Resource Environments. In X.-S. Yang, S. Sherratt, N. Dey, & A. Joshi (Eds.), Proceedings of 6th International Congress on Information and Communication Technology: ICICT 2021, London, Volume 1 (Vol. 1, pp. 675-683). (Lecture Notes in Networks and Systems (LNNS); Vol. 235). Springer Science and Business Media Deutschland GmbH. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-981-16-2377-6_62

Dittoh, Francis ; Akkermans, Hans ; de Boer, Victor et al. / Tibaηsim: Information Access for Low-Resource Environments. Proceedings of 6th International Congress on Information and Communication Technology: ICICT 2021, London, Volume 1. editor / Xin-She Yang ; Simon Sherratt ; Nilanjan Dey ; Amit Joshi. Vol. 1 Springer Science and Business Media Deutschland GmbH, 2022. pp. 675-683 (Lecture Notes in Networks and Systems (LNNS)).

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abstract = "In Africa, and other places around the world, there are numerous people who do not have access to information from the World Wide Web or other digital sources. This is not an issue of infrastructure only, but also of cultural and social factors, including low literacy. Most rural communities in the Northern Region of Ghana fall in this category, where information in written form and/or English is not accessible due to the inability of majority of community members to read and write. This paper presents Tiba η sim (originally “RadioNet”); a case-study of an appropriate ICT4D methodology in the development of an information delivery system hosted in low-resource areas, with empirical data from context analysis from the rural communities and other stakeholders. The paper also presents an evaluation of the system and the methodology, by way of User Evaluation and System Monitoring. The paper also shows how contextual issues are catered for through the methodology used. Tibaηsim focuses on available technologies and appropriate information formats by providing a system that relies on GSM and FM Radio, in the local language(s) of the community. Tibaηsim was deployed in 5 rural communities, reaching a total of almost 1000 people, providing them primarily farming-related information.",

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note = "Funding Information: The authors thank Christophe Gu{\'e}ret for the original Kasadaka idea and the University for Development Studies ICT for Food and Water in Ghana team led by Saa Dittoh. We also acknowledge the contributions of Kay Kutah Wilhelm (Savanna Agricultural Research Institute), The Internet Society Ghana Chapter, and The Internet Society for funding the pilot project. The authors also thank Chris van Aart, Amadou Tangara, Chris Reij, Stephane Boyera, Gossa L{\^o}, Julien Ouedraogo, Matthieu Oue-draogo, Mary Allen, Nana Baah Gyan, Aman Grewal, Yacouba Sawadogo, Stefan Schlobach, and many others for their contribution to this continuing research project. Publisher Copyright: {\textcopyright} 2022, The Author(s), under exclusive license to Springer Nature Singapore Pte Ltd.; 6th International Congress on Information and Communication Technology, ICICT 2021 ; Conference date: 25-02-2021 Through 26-02-2021",

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Dittoh, F, Akkermans, H, de Boer, V , Bon, A , Tuyp, W & Baart, A 2022, Tibaηsim: Information Access for Low-Resource Environments. in X-S Yang, S Sherratt, N Dey & A Joshi (eds), Proceedings of 6th International Congress on Information and Communication Technology: ICICT 2021, London, Volume 1. vol. 1, Lecture Notes in Networks and Systems (LNNS), vol. 235, Springer Science and Business Media Deutschland GmbH, pp. 675-683, 6th International Congress on Information and Communication Technology, ICICT 2021, Virtual, Online, 25/02/21. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-981-16-2377-6_62

Tibaηsim: Information Access for Low-Resource Environments. / Dittoh, Francis; Akkermans, Hans; de Boer, Victor et al.
Proceedings of 6th International Congress on Information and Communication Technology: ICICT 2021, London, Volume 1. ed. / Xin-She Yang; Simon Sherratt; Nilanjan Dey; Amit Joshi. Vol. 1 Springer Science and Business Media Deutschland GmbH, 2022. p. 675-683 (Lecture Notes in Networks and Systems (LNNS); Vol. 235).

Research output: Chapter in Book / Report / Conference proceeding › Conference contribution › Academic › peer-review

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Dittoh F, Akkermans H, de Boer V , Bon A , Tuyp W, Baart A. Tibaηsim: Information Access for Low-Resource Environments. In Yang XS, Sherratt S, Dey N, Joshi A, editors, Proceedings of 6th International Congress on Information and Communication Technology: ICICT 2021, London, Volume 1. Vol. 1. Springer Science and Business Media Deutschland GmbH. 2022. p. 675-683. (Lecture Notes in Networks and Systems (LNNS)). Epub 2021 Sept 24. doi: 10.1007/978-981-16-2377-6_62

Tibaηsim: Information Access for Low-Resource Environments

Abstract

Publication series

Conference

Bibliographical note

Keywords

UN SDGs

Access to Document

Persistent URL (handle)

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Cite this